To be totally (in fact, probably unjustly) fair to the guy: I don't think he means that "in novels, people don't speak", but rather: "people don't speak in novel-length conversations". But I think the only times any character is "speaking" for any long period of time, it's internal monologue... or Legacy... and Legacy 100% speaks in novels.
To be clear, still think that guy is wrong... just make sure you're calling people out for being wrong in the right way.
Also, what he said is definitely readable the way everyone else seems to be reading it... So it's kinda his fault.